Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has donated N100 million to victims of the recent Damaturu GSM Market fire.
The N100 million cash donation was announced in a statement during his visit to the market on Wednesday.
Expressing sympathy for the victims, Governor Buni also directed the State Emergency Management Agency to assess the extent of the damage for potential intervention by the State Government.
Emphasizing his administration’s commitment to supporting affected traders, Governor Buni, while praying for protection against future incidents, assured sustained assistance.
The fire, which erupted on Tuesday, engulfed 34 shops in the GSM market, causing an estimated loss of N150 million worth of goods. Alhaji Malami Ali, the state chairman of GSM Market and Parts, highlighted the challenges faced during firefighting efforts, emphasizing the market’s history of fire disasters due to electrical appliance negligence.
What Malami Alli said
- ‘‘We gathered that this incident happened around 4:00 am but it took combined efforts of the personnel of the fire service and people from the neighbourhood to put out the raging inferno.
- ‘‘Honestly speaking, no one can tell you what caused the fire, because the shop where this fire started has no electricity connection but there is solar power.
- ‘‘So far, 34 shops have been destroyed by this inferno with property worth over N150 million because there are dealers, wholesalers, and retailers as well as stores.
- ‘‘We are calling on the government and relevant agencies to come to our aid because many of these traders and dealers have lost their wealth.’’
What we know
Chairman of the Harmonized Traders Association Damaturu Local Government, Alhaji Ali Shareef, attributed the fire’s escalation to faulty firefighter trucks, triggered by high electricity voltage.
Acknowledging community efforts to extinguish the blaze, he noted the recurring fire incidents in the market, citing negligence in handling electrical appliances as a contributing factor.
In an official statement, the Police Public Relations Officer for Yobe State, DSP Dungus Abdulkareem, confirmed that over 30 shops were entirely consumed by the fire.
Remarkably, there were no reported casualties or injuries, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Governor Buni’s substantial financial aid aims to alleviate the impact of this tragic incident on affected traders, signalling a concerted effort by the state government to address the aftermath of the GSM Market fire.